Carnations. Ick. That’s what I thought six months ago – before I saw the light.
One evening, I was doing some research for an article I was writing about wedding flowers, when an image of a carnation wedding bouquet jumped out at me. No, it can’t be! Carnations? My ‘ick’ suddenly became a ‘wow!’
I had never seen carnations grouped together before without any other flowers to steal their thunder. They were always used as a filler and almost always paired with baby’s breath. Who knew that they had such power in numbers?
Not only do they look fabulous ‘en masse’, they’re inexpensive, hearty and they last a long time. What more could one ask from such a sweet and humble flower?
I scoured the web for some photos of carnation bouquets and here are a few of the best.
Red carnation centerpiece Carolyne Roehm via Rainflower Company.
Pink carnation topiaries from pd Bloom.
Carnation wedding bouquet from Real Simple. You can learn to make this bouquet over here.
Carnation pomander centerpiece from Flickr’s Sad Puppy.
Top photo: The Planner Pages.

Love these photos of carnations. You do have to have a talented florist to make carnations look like this. I have an ick factor for carnations too! But they are inexpensive and can really look amazing if you use a large quantity. They are the best to cover spheres or create other shapes because you can pack them tightly!
a pomander of carnations also looks really great on a candelabra centerpiece or a fancy candle stick holder if you don't have a candelabra